SFMOMA’s decision to pursue off-site programming during construction evolved from a detailed review of the best options for the museum’s art collection, the audiences it serves, and its vision for the future. Joint programs through partnership further SFMOMA’s mission to make art not only widely accessible, but accessible in continually new and surprising ways.

The Met’s Spring 2012 Costume Institute exhibition, Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, explores the striking affinities between Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada, two Italian designers from different eras. Inspired by Miguel Covarrubias’s “Impossible Interviews” for Vanity Fair in the 1930s, the exhibition features orchestrated conversations between these iconic women to suggest new readings of their most innovative work.

The iconic designer is set to visit famous department store Selfridges on July 24 to launch a pop-up shop selling his sports-themed Team Karl collection amongst other concessions, British Vogue reports.

The first look was so telling. A fan-pleated navy blue sheer gown with a flute skirt and a blousy top, with see-through billowy sleeves, carried the spirit, the overriding silhouette, the wayward intention, and the sex of the collection to come – a perfect microcosm of the new ventures taken at the Valentino atelier.

Inspired by the clean lines of Hubert de Givenchy’s 60s dresses and the bohemes of modern-day southern Italy, aesthetically, this haute capsule asks for no leniency from its public – it’s severe, for sure, or in layman’s terms – a lot of look, but the craft has never looked more sublime. In truth, this is an Italian tree-hugger only Tisci could fashion into real world existence.

Designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Picciol took a surprising step away from the usual esthetic and a more mature, sensual and severe Valentino woman introduced a more arcane prestige to the dreamlike elegance of a classic beauty.

Raf Simmons said it himself, “a shift is happening.” The truth in this statement could be seen in his anomalous sense of color in his clothing as well as the makeup look that complimented the collection.